“Whatever be the case, I’ll provide the best education for my children” said Sarabjeet Kaur of Kot Dharmu vilage, Mansa Punjab.
Prior to my journey to Mansa district of Punjab to conduct a survey on farmer suicide victims, I expected to see a set of women who lamented on the loses of their husbands. This stereotyping that I created in my mind was totally changed on my way back. What I saw there was women who proved that life is under their control, a set of mothers who were true warriors……who battled the battle of life to pay a way for their children.
When Nirmaljeet committed suicide in the year 2015, the 28 year-old house-wife Sarabjeet (widow) was all hopeless as she didn’t know how to move forward with 3 children and pay the debts. Today, she works as a farm labourer and even works under the NREGA scheme so that she could not just repay the loans, but also to provide the best education to her kids. When her 9 year old son (Labjyot) said that he aspires to be a pilot, 11 year old daughter (Mehekpreet) said that she prefers to be a teacher and her 13 year old daughter (Ramanjyot) told about her interest in joining the army, we saw tears of joy from Sarabjeet’s eyes. But those joyful tears were mixed with a sense of doubtfulness on whether she could help them in achieving all their dreams. She is truly an epitome of an empowered mother from my perspective.
Charanjeet Kaur is another inspiring person that I met in Mansa. Her only son, Butta Singh, was a two-year-old toddler when his father (Balkaran Singh) committed suicide in the year 2016 by hanging himself. The then housewife, is now a worker under the NREGA scheme and also a domestic labourer. Her intense passion to see a brighter future for her son, Charanjeet makes her spare her day and night to send her son to a private school. She was under medication for depression for almost a year, but her child increases the level of hope in her minute by minute. “I will join the army and get money for my mother so that she doesn’t need to work anymore” said the 5 year old boy (who seems to be more responsible than most of the teenagers I’ve come across in a while).
The general perception of women being a weaker section is really scrapped by the kind of deeds that these women perform. After the death of their husbands, most of them were mentally down, but still they made a point that they’ll be the pillars of support for the rest of the family. A soft-hearted motherly instinct transformed into a brave womanly attitude to most of them. One feature that I personally observed in most of them is that, though they are uneducated, they try their level best to provide education for their children. This implies that they are aware of the realities of being uneducated. That thought in itself is a great initiative. Issues on independency strikes them a lot but the art of ignorance helps most of them to cling on to their lives.
“Sometimes, the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.”
By,
Aleena Mavely
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